ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Oikumene project was developed and is being carried out by the Paleoethnology Research Center (Moscow, Russian Federation). Scholars from Russia’s leading institutions and universities and their colleagues from other countries have joined forces to create a digital atlas of human history. The project covers the periods from the Early Stone Age (2.6 million years ago) to Late Antiquity (5th-6th centuries AD), and, for certain regions of Africa and Latin America, up to the Modern Era. 

MAIN SECTIONS

Encyclopedia 

 

The encyclopedia comprises a collection of articles on a wide array of ancient history topics written by leading specialists. These articles provide users with extensive information about historical events, key people, archaeological cultures, sites, and various cultural developments. The texts are accompanied by photographs, reconstructions, schemes and maps, and include full bibliographies.  The names and places mentioned in the texts are cross-linked throughout the Oikumene articles.  

The portal is regularly updated to reflect the latest scientific data. 

All texts on the portal are in both Russian and English, thus vastly increasing the number of users. 

 

Interactive map 

 

The geoportal, a visual search system integrated into a world map, is an important tool for studying ancient human history. By zooming in and clicking on hyperlinked toponyms, users can access the corresponding article in the encyclopedia, making every bit of stored information easily available. 

 

Global stratigraphy 

 

The unique search tool developed for the Oikumene portal will allow users to look for information using a time scale. They can go all the way back to the very origins of human history or explore the last centuries of antiquity. The key feature of the time scale is the search system. It synchronizes events that took place at the same time but in different parts of the world, thus allowing users to perceive history as a single interconnected living body.  

International Scientific Council

  • Mikhail B. Piotrovsky

    Mikhail B. Piotrovsky

    Doctor of Historical Sciences. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor and General Director of the State Hermitage Museum, Member of the Council for Culture and Art under the President of the Russian Federation.

  • Amirkhanov Hizri A.

    Amirkhanov Hizri A.

    Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor and Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Head of the Department of Stone Age Archaeology of the Institute of Archaeology of RAS; Deputy Academician-Secretary of the Department of Historical and Philological Sciences of the RAS

  • Zahi Abass Hawass

    Zahi Abass Hawass

    Dr. Habil (History). The University of Pennsylvania. Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (2002–2011), Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt (2011).

  • Maslennikov Alexander A.

    Maslennikov Alexander A.

    Doctor of Historical Sciences. Senior Researcher at the Field Research Department & Head of the Field Research Department of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

  • Mireille Corbier

    Mireille Corbier

    Research Director Emerita at Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS. Editor-in-chief of L'Année épigraphique, Knight of the National Order of Merit of France

  • Sedov Alexander V.

    Sedov Alexander V.

    Doctor of Historical Sciences, General Director of the State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow. Leading Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Editorial Board

  • Bukharin Mikhail D.

    Bukharin Mikhail D.

    Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Chief Researcher at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Editorial Board of the Oikoumene project

  • Alexandrov Boris E.

    Alexandrov Boris E.

    Ph. D. Associate Professor of the Department of Ancient World History, Faculty of History of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. Senior Researcher at the HSE Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies.

  • Grishin Evgeny S.

    Grishin Evgeny S.

    Ph. D. Lecturer of Historical Geography and Auxiliary Sciences of History at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).

  • Zaitsev Yuri P.

    Zaitsev Yuri P.

    Ph. D. Director of the State Budgetary Institution of the Republic of Crimea, “Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve” ‘Scythian Neapolis’ (Simferopol).

  • Zakharov Anton O.

    Zakharov Anton O.

    Doctor of Historical Sciences. Leading researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Center for Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania).

  • Kirillova Maria N.

    Kirillova Maria N.

    Ph. D. Researcher at the Department of Comparative Studies of Ancient Civilizations at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Associate Professor of the Department of History at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

  • Krol Alexey A.

    Krol Alexey A.

    Ph. D. Senior Researcher at the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Director of the Nubian Archaeological and Anthropological Expedition of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University Institute and Museum of Anthropology.

  • Ladynin Ivan A.

    Ladynin Ivan A.

    Doctor of Historical Sciences. Associate Professor at the Department of Ancient World History, Faculty of History of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Professor at the School of History, HSE Faculty of Humanities.

  • Nemirovsky Alexander A.

    Nemirovsky Alexander A.

    Ph.D. Senior Researcher at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor at the State Academic University of Humanities.

  • Natalia P. Salugina

    Natalia P. Salugina

    Ph.D. Senior Researcher at Orenburg State Pedagogical University, Senior Researcher at the Paleoethnology Research Center

  • Safronov Alexander V. Safronov

    Safronov Alexander V. Safronov

    Ph. D. Associate Professor of the Department of Ancient World History, Faculty of History of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University

  • Sedov Alexander V.

    Sedov Alexander V.

    Doctor of Historical Sciences, General Director of the State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow. Leading Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

  • Tolmacheva Elena G.

    Tolmacheva Elena G.

    Ph. D. Researcher at the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. Lecturer at the HSE Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies (IOCS)

  • Chirkova Alina Kh.

    Chirkova Alina Kh.

    Ph.D. Researcher at the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University